Briefs

December 08, 2006|STAFF REPORTS

LAKEVILLE

Driver in two-vehicle accident charged

A 26-year-old South Bend man has been charged in connection with a two-vehicle crash that injured another driver Wednesday morning at U.S. 31 and Roosevelt Road, the St. Joseph County prosecutor's office announced. Terrence M. Collins has been charged with three counts, including resisting law enforcement and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated after having previously being convicted of that same offense. Both are Class D felonies. He also has been charged with operating a vehicle with a blood content of .08 or more, a Class A misdemeanor. Collins was allegedly driving erratically on U.S. 31 about 5 a.m. when he collided with a northbound pickup truck, which caused the truck to flip into a ditch. The driver of the pickup, Ryan Dujardin, 21, was taken to St. Joseph Regional Medical Center with minor injuries. He was treated and released. Police arrested Collins a short time later. FAIRMOUNT, Ind

Madison-Grant player on vent after collapse

A high school basketball player remained on a ventilator Thursday evening after he collapsed during a morning practice a day earlier. Josh McCormick went into seizures during the freshman team practice before classes Wednesday at Madison-Grant High School, school officials said. Chris Smedley, the assistant principal and head basketball coach at the school in Fairmount, said neurologists at St. Vincent's Hospital in Indianapolis were planning to speak with McCormick's parents Thursday evening after he underwent testing for brain damage. McCormick was listed in critical but stable condition Thursday evening. Smedley said there had been some positive signs in the past 24 hours. Doctors believed a heart infection led to his collapse, said Steve Shugart, an assistant freshman basketball coach who also coached McCormick in tennis. Madison-Grant's freshman game Thursday against Hamilton Heights was canceled. NILES

Barricaded man, 27, taken into custody

A Niles Township man was arrested Wednesday after allegedly causing a domestic disturbance and barricading himself in an out building for several hours, police said. At 11:14 p.m., Berrien County Road Patrol officials were called to 910 Herbert St., where the 27-year-old man was firing a handgun, according to a news release. When the police arrived, the man retreated to an out building at the home and refused to communicate with police for several hours. Crisis negotiators eventually were able to talk the man out of the building, police said. He was taken into custody at the Berrien County Jail, where he was booked on four charges and held without bond pending arraignment. His four charges include assault with a dangerous weapon, domestic violence, possession of a firearm while intoxicated and reckless discharge of a firearm. JACKSON, Mich.

Stomping kittens leads to prison sentence

A man has been sentenced to 16 to 90 months in prison for attacking his ex-wife and stomping her kittens to death in a drunken rage. Robert Vansumeren, 49, of Jackson, said the meltdown was an epiphany for him after years of behaving badly. "The dynamics with his ex-wife reached a boiling point," Vansumeren's attorney, Robert Gaecke, told Circuit Judge Chad Schmucker during Wednesday's sentencing. "I wish you would have had this pivotal moment of change before," Schmucker told Vansumeren, who pleaded no contest to third-degree home invasion, aggravated stalking and killing or torturing animals. Gaecke said Vansumeren has a long history of alcohol abuse and a stormy relationship with his former wife, who sought a personal protection order against him after throwing him out of the house. He found his belongings under a tarp when he went to her house on Aug. 10. "He also discovered kittens under the tarp and stomped on them," assistant prosecutor Jennifer Lamp said.